Inprint
by DevilsDaughter782
Summary: When Sam finds "it" he gets to find out what happened the night when Gabriel died from Gabriel's point of view. Maybe Gabriel wasn't exactly doing things for Kali after all. Could there have been some other reason?


_AN: Hey everyone. I was let know that for some reason my stories haven't been readable. Hopefully I've fixed the problem now. I wrote these a while ago, so they're not that good, just some drabble. But please let me know what you think. Sorry for any inconveniences I caused._

_I don't own Supernatural or any of the characters, because if I did Gabriel would be part of Team Free Will, Destiel would be canon and all those characters who have a habit of dying would be ok again._

It was a Monday morning, just like any morning really, when Sam found it.

"It" was situated in one of the rooms deep in the middle of the bunker. Sam had been exploring the long corridors, looking to see if he couldn't find anything interesting while Dean was at some bar in undoubtedly picking up a rather attractive, rather single, rather drunk woman to perform actions Sam really didn't want to think of his older brother participating in.

The large wooden door had creaked open as he'd pushed at it revealing a seemingly ordinary room, not indifferent from any of the other dusty abandoned ones he'd managed to find that night.

Except for one thing. The "it".

"It" was a ball of golden light, floating a tiny bit of the ground, illuminating the room's dark corners and casting out any shadow. It was beautiful. But Sam knew that beauty wasn't always good. Take Ruby for example.

Still he couldn't just leave it there. Taking a step inside he reached out to see if he could touch it and...

_"And when are you ever lucky?"_

_"Well you know what bite me Gabriel" Dean whipped round; obviously not impressed by the fact that Gabriel had just saved their ass's. Again. This time he'd even made a show of it, unlike the previous hunts he'd gone along on in the past that they hadn't even realized he was on with them. He'd saved both of them more times than he'd pranked Michael back in the good old days._

_"Maybe later big boy," Gabriel smirked; cocky was always his best suit._

_"I should have known, I mean this had your stink all over it from the jump." So Dean thought he'd got the gods together. That was laughable. Like he'd purposely put his ex anywhere near where she could smite his ass .Even if he was trying to teach the Winchesters a lesson he'd keep them away from Kali._

_Because if Kali ever found out about...the problem...Gabriel would bet that neither of the Winchesters would live another day, or himself for that matter. She was always a spiteful bitch._

_"You think I'm behind this?" Gabriel raised his eyebrows, "please, I'm the Coston to your Thuston," Gabriel let his eyes flicker briefly to the older Winchester, "I'm here to save your ass"_

_"You want to pull us out of the fire?" Dean looked disbelieving which made Gabriel want to sigh. Although, as far as Dean knew all Gabriel had done was try to kill him a hundred times and then stuck them in a damn TV show. Still Gabriel went to all the effort not having fun to "pull their ass's out of the fire" he deserved a little respect._

_"Bingo," was all he said, "Those guys are going to dust you or use you as bait. Either way, your ubur boned._

_"Wow, because a couple of months ago you were telling us we needed to play our roles, you were uber boning us" Gabriel tried not to flinch at that. Yes, he'd done that. But to be fair to him a few months ago hadn't been his strongest point. And he'd wanted to die because honestly being an immortal in a world where...the problem...didn't know what was going on sucked. In fact it still sucked._

_He glanced briefly between the Winchesters before making a quick decision. They didn't need to know just now that he'd put all his efforts into finding them another way to get through the apocalypse without becoming meat suits. Right now it was better if they thought Gabriel was still an ass._

_"Ohhh, the end is still nie. Michael and Lucifer are going to dance the Lambada. But not tonight. Not here."_

_Dean pulled his confused face which made Gabriel want to laugh but he pulled it together. He needed to be serious; the Winchesters couldn't think he was joking about this right now._

_"And why do you care?"_

_Oh crap. Big lie time. He couldn't just come out with...the problem...not in front of Dean. If he had his way...The problem...would never know exactly what was going on. But hell he could come up with something._

_Or someone..._

_And he was a great actor._

_"I don't care, but me and Kali, we had a thing. Chick was all hands." Dean gave him a bitch face, which he definitely could not pull off as well as his brother, "what can I say I'm sentimental."_

_And they'd bought it._

_That was when Sam spoke._

_And his voice._

_Oh god, that moose of a man had the most beautiful voice Gabriel had ever heard. And Gabriel had been around a long time and heard a lot of voices. Hell, he'd heard the voice of god. But nothing could beat Sam's voice._

_"Do we have a chance?" the younger Hunter asked._

_And of course they had a chance. Because Gabriel would make sure they had a chance. The problem may be a problem but he would still die for its cause._

_"Against Satan?" and crap Sam had to go and add that to the end of his sentence._

_"Really Sam?" Dean turned his attention towards his brother, fear flashing obviously in his eyes. Gabriel knew how scared he was Sam would say yes, knew what the angels had showed him, knew how freaked he had been by what his brother, or rather Lucifer had...was going to... say to him._

_To be honest Gabriel was scared too._

_"You got a better idea Dean?" and wow seriousness. Sam really had to loosen up a bit. And he really needed to stop being so suicidal. It was going to get him killed. Hell, it was going to get Gabriel killed._

_"It's a bad idea," his whole focus was on Sam now. Pleading him with his vessels beautiful honey gold eyes. No way Gabriel was letting Sam anywhere near his "one true angel" or whatever. No Lucifer's vessel had to stay out of this. "Lucifer's going to turn them into finger paint. So let's get going while the going's good."_

_Dean didn't need convincing. He knew the dangers of putting Sam in the same building as the fallen angel, "why don't you just zap us out of here then?"_

_"Would if I could," Gabriel tried to sound like he didn't truly care but Kali doing that wasn't helping the problem any. And it really pissed him off. But he had to keep up the act, so he threw on his usual smirk, "but Kali's got you by the short and curly's. It's a blood spell," he added at the Winchesters confused faces, "you boys are on a leash."_

_"What does that mean?" Dean asked._

_Gabriel was glad Sam hadn't asked. Because even if neither Winchester knew about the problem it would be awkward directing his next actions at the younger Winchester. Still, he had to keep up the role, play it safe, "It means it's time for a little of the old black magic." He meant that literally. Kali would sense that something was different if his actual mouth got in the way. Fake him would be doing all the work tonight._

_"Ok, well that's great, we're going to take the old turds in the freezer with us."_

_"Forget it, it's going to be hard enough sneaking you mooks out of here." if he was being honest the Winchesters effort to save everyone was one of the things he admired about them. But it wouldn't be doing them any favours tonight. He needed to get...The problem...out of here._

_"They called you Loki right?" Oh crap. Gabriel knew where this was going. Curse Dean for being such a clever bastard. "That means they don't know who you really are."_

_"Told you I'm in witness protection."_

_"Well how about you do as we say or we tell the legion of doom about your secret identity. They don't seem like a real pro angel kind of crowd"_

_"I'll take your voices away," Gabriel threatened, which would be awful considering how amazing Sam's was. He'd do it though. If he had to._

_"We'll write it down."_

_"I'll cut off your hands."_

_"Well then people are going to be asking why you guys running around with no hands." ok that made the least amount of sense. Like these gods would care. Still knowing how stubborn the Winchesters were Gabriel decided it was time to give in._

_He spared a glance Sam's way. He hoped the kid knew, on some level that he was doing all this for his sorry ass. But the moose's face just showed anger. Nothing at all like friendship towards Gabriel._

_And here Gabriel was willing to die for him. Ready to brave ex girlfriends for him._

_He turned his attention back to Winchester number 2 "Fine," he spat at Dean._

_And then sparing yet another glance at Sam, at the problem he snapped his fingers and vanished..._

Things swum before his eyes. The memory of that day back when they'd lost Gabriel. And then he was sucked in and reliving it, reliving it though Gabriel's side of things and...

What the hell?

The light in the room had vanished as if it was never there. The darkness flooded all around Sam as he was left pondering what he had just seen and how the hell that had happened.

"What the hell was that?" he muttered to the empty room.

It had been Gabriel. Gabriel. But it didn't make sense. What was the point? And why did Gabriel think that Sam's voice was beautiful? And Gabriel had been helping them before? Without them even realising it? None of it made any sense or fit with what Sam knew about the Trickster. The dead trickster that he'd mourned in private scared of letting Dean know how hard it had hit him. It had made no sense, why he would feel sad about a guy who did nothing but try to kill them, get them to say yes to Lucifer and Michael, given Sam genital Herpes and then died, not for them, but for some girlfriend.

Well actually it turned out it _had_been for them. Or at least the Problem, whatever that was. And he had done more than that. He'd saved them on countless hunts, if those memories were to be trusted, without them ever knowing...

"That, kiddo, was an Imprint," the voice that floated through the darkness caused Sam to almost fall over.

"_Gabriel?!"_

"Surprise! I'm alive!"

Sam pushed a hand though his hair and shut his eyes, which did nothing to his vision what so ever. It was pitch black in here, "I'm going mad."

"Possibly," came the voice he thought he'd never hear again. Honestly, Sam thought he was through with hallucinating over stupid archangel douche bags.

"Gabriel, if you're not a hallucination could you shead some light on the subject?" The room was pitch black, Sam couldn't even see his own hand if he held it in front of his face.

"No can do Sammy boy!" Sam could practically hear the smirk.

"Why?"

"Because me and you are going to have a long overdue conversation. So sit down and get comfy, this could take a while," his joking tone vanished as he added; "I can't have this particular conversation with you looking at me kiddo."

"What? Why?" Sam was so confused he was getting a headache but he slid down to the floor anyway, deciding he might as well get comfy if he was going to have to listen to this possibly real, possibly fake Gabriel. He just prayed to god that if this was another hallucination, Gabriel would at least let him sleep tonight.

"We'll get to that," Gabriel sighed and Sam heard the clasping of Gabriel's possibly fake hands clasping together, "so, Sammy, you have questions."

"What the hell was that?" Sam repeated his question from earlier.

"That," Gabriel said, seriousness filling up his voice, a tone that actually suited him quite well, "was an imprint. You weren't supposed to touch it." He added in a scolding tone.

"But I saw..."

"I know damn well what you saw Sam. An imprint. I manage to find and destroy most of them before you find them but I failed this time," Gabriel shrugged, "what can you do?"

"But _why_ was it there?"

"Well, because my Grace is calling out to your soul and it's using any means necessary, trying to tell you something I don't want you to know."

"The problem?" Sam guessed.

"Yes."

"And what exactly is The Problem?" Sam wasn't sure if he actually wanted to know the answer, what with the whole "my grace is calling out to your soul" thing. But Sam's curiosity was probably a more powerful force than all of heaven and hell combined and this was definitely important.

"The Problem," Gabriel sounded...embarrassed? "Is that you seem to be my...mate."

Sam's brain froze, not exactly sure how to process that information, Gabriel was either lying, this wasn't real and his mind had somehow decided to play some warped trick or this was a prank of some fucked up kind, "what?"

"It's how I survived actually. You can't live in a world without me; I can't live in a world without you. So technically I'm kind of immortal and so are you ish. It's confusing angel logic. But we all have a human mate that most of us never find and, well, you were mine. _Are_ mine. So I've been looking out for you. Or trying to. But I didn't want you to know. But I couldn't be away from you either. So I've just decided to act like that annoying woman out of fantastic four and be invisible half the time."

Sam's mouth opened to form words but nothing came out. What did you say when you found out the person who killed your brother over a hundred times was your _mate_? And that was if he was believing any of this. Should he believe any of this?

The science ran on for what was possibly an eternity.

"Gabriel." Was all Sam finally managed to get out.

"I'm sorry Sammy, it's not like I wanted this," Gabriel sounded defeated, and Sam could only imagine the look on his face. It was surprisingly easy to imagine the archangel heartbroken. Sam tried not to analyse the feeling of hurt that picture painted in his chest.

Sam didn't really know how to react. His mind was still processing the information. These past few years after Gabriel finally dropped off the face of the planet had not in any way been the easiest. But now he realized that it had been easier than it should have technically been.

"You were the one who threw the dog into the road weren't you?"

"You deserved a break, kiddo."

"And you were the one who convinced me to stay instead of going looking for Dean." It wasn't a question. Sam could see it now. Everything. Gabriel had been trying to help him all along. Gabriel had given him a year of peace, but he'd been there before that. And he'd done so much more than throw a dog into a road.

"So you let your mate be with another?"

"You didn't know. And I...It's just what happens. It's an edge to make your significant other happy. Because you are Sam, you always will be. My significant other. Which really sucks. But...it's the truth. But I knew you hated me, and if people knew...I'm an archangel kid. People would try and get to me through you if the bond was...fulfilled. I'm so sorry, if I could change it I would. But there's no way, so I'm just ghosting your soul, helping out and then leaving you to it."

"Ghosting my soul? Wait Gabriel; are you the reason why I don't feel guilty or anything anymore?"

"Bingo."

"And you're the presence I feel when I'm alone." That had been confusing, but when he felt sad and he couldn't talk to Dean or anyone he'd felt something. It would wrap around his soul and squish his insides up until he felt full and better again. Like a hug but for the soul.

"Yes."

Sam's mind felt like it was pushing little bits of the past six years at him, every moment that he took for granted that was actually just Gabriel. Gabriel.

This wasn't some hallucination.

This was real.

Gabriel was real.

And his _mate._

"Shit Gabriel, how am I supposed to take this in?"

"You don't. I can make you forget all of this. And we'll go on, like we always do."

Sam heard footsteps, knew Gabriel was getting closer, probably to rip all this away from him, "don't," he whispered softly.

The footsteps stopped. "What?"

"I said don't," Sam got to his feet, "I've felt a hole in me all this time. I thought it was to do with the activation of my physic powers, like when my body realised I had demon blood smeared all over my soul, but that's not true is it? It was you; it was my soul calling out to you."

"I imagine that was what it was yes," Gabriel sounded embarrassed.

"Why didn't you just tell me, Gabe?"

"Because you hate me."

"I never hated you. Ever." Sam took a step closer, "you're what's been missing all along." He could feel the arch angel; he was centimetres away from where Sam stood himself, his breath a little ragged. _Yes,_Sam thought, _he's what's been missing. Why didn't I see it before?_

"Sam," Gabriel sounded pained, "you don't really want this. You don't have to do this, if you..." Sam's breath was ghosting Gabriel's lips and it sent a shiver down the arch angel's spine, which he tried to ignore "if you kiss me, it will be a fulfilled bond. I won't be able to stop my grace from slipping into you. There's no going back from that. You don' t want that Sam. That's immortality. That's me giving you a forever. You wouldn't be able to die, you'd be stuck, what about Dean? What about everything, I kill him _hundreds_of times. Sam I frickin' gave you genital herpes! You can't do this, we can't-"

"Gabriel?"

"Yeah?"

"Shut up," and then Sam was kissing him and it was perfect, his hands around the shorter mans waist, pulling his closer. For a second Gabriel was still and then hesitant as he began to move his lips against the hunters but after a few seconds Gabriel let out a moan and slid his hands into Sam's hair, biting and sucking on Sam's lower lip.

And that was when Sam felt it, the hole in his soul that he'd gotten so used to disappeared, filled with the arch angel that was his mate. How had he lived without this? Why hadn't Gabriel grabbed him and kissed him the moment they met, when he was just some janitor. This was like nothing he'd ever felt before. Pure Gabriel. Like some kind of drug.

He could feel Gabriel's grace pouring into him; filling up the cracks and making him hole again. All the places that Sam always knew were impure because of the demon blood vanishing; he was being redeemed by Gabriel. Gabriel. Gabriel. Gabriel.

When Sam parted his lips in a gasp, Gabriel took advantage and slid his tongue into the hunter's mouth and _oh,_the things that tongue could do. Pure Trickster.

_Sam, Sam, Sam, Sam,_he could hear Gabriel's soul calling out to him. And his soul was responding, _Gabriel, Gabriel, Gabriel,_He'd never felt anything so strong, not with Jess, not with Amelia. He'd been waiting all his life for this crazy little angel. And now he'd found him. And he was never letting him go again.

When they finally parted the lights flickered on and Sam could finally see Gabriel, his mate, who he thought he would never see again after Lucifer had had his way with him. The angel who he thought he'd failed just like every other person in his life.

He was exactly like the younger Winchester remembered him, as if he'd only just stepped out to stand up to his older brother and give them a chance to leave. And yet at the same time, Sam's memories didn't do the arch angel turned trickster any justice what so ever. He was short, but somehow larger than life, his power radiating of him, showing just how high up the hierarchy of the universe he really sat at. His hair was pulled back and perfectly styled into gold wisps that Sam _really_wanted to run his hands through and his lips were all dainty and puffed up from their little kissing match earlier, making Sam want to carry on kissing his angel into oblivion. His angel.

But none of that really mattered.

Gabriel's eyes. They were something no words could really explain. They literally swirled with colour, something close to honey, toffee, caramel, gold, sunlight through a glass of whisky, but equally nothing like any of those things. They glowed. And they were pure angel. Pure Gabriel. Sam couldn't explain how he knew, but he did. These were Gabriel's eyes, not whoever's body this used to belong to.

And they were looking at him with something close to wonder. Like they couldn't believe this was even happening. They looked happy, not mischievous like they usually did, but just happy. And all of it was for Sam. Sam. Sam. Sam.

"Gabriel," Sam breathed out.

And that's when things got out of hand.

Gabriel pushed him backwards with a snarl, causing Sam to crush into the wall behind him with a thud. Sam felt his legs crumble as he looked up at the archangel. The eyes that had been filled with happiness and wonder just moments ago filled with anger and...hurt?

"Do you have any idea what you just did?" Gabriel growled.

"I thought you wanted..."

"I do want. But you don't. What you felt before, that was just you responding to my grace. And I couldn't stop you because I'm too damn far gone."

"I don't understand..."

"You just signed on to an eternity with me. You just tied your soul to me, Sam Winchester. Do you have any idea what that means? And when you realise that you regret it, you'll hate me. Because you can't ever take that back. And you'll be damn immortal. You _are_ immortal!"

"Gabriel, calm down!" Sam pushed himself up from the floor, "I'm not going to regret this."

"You will. Everyone regrets me."

"Gabriel what are you talking about?" he began to approach Gabriel slowly, like one would a skittish animal.

"Sam," Gabriel looked at him and there was pain in those eyes, "there was a reason I stayed away from you. You'll...you'll regret this. I killed your brother, Sam."

"I forgave you for that, Gabriel, the moment you died for us."

"It doesn't matter, everyone regrets me. My brother killed me, he didn't care. And my dad, he left me, left all of us, to die. But before that, way, way before that Sam, my dad regretted making me. And now all the other gods know about me to, Sam and they regret ever socializing with me," Gabriel turned away and Sam took that as his chance to creep up behind Gabriel and snake his arms around the smaller mans middle, holding him tight.

"I don't want to lose you."

"You won't Gabriel. I'm your mate. You won't," Sam whispered into Gabriel's hair, ghosting his lips along the gold that looked almost like a halo.

Sam felt the moment when Gabriel finally relaxed against him, let go of all the tension and just let himself be held by Sam.

"You don't even know me," Gabriel said eventually.

"I know enough," Sam smiled into Gabriel's golden locks, "and I have eternity to learn the rest, right?"

"Yes," Gabriel sighed, "yes, yes, yes."

"Good," Sam smiled softly, "I would never regret you Gabriel. What just happened...you made me light again. After I spent so much time in the dark. And you fought your brother for me. You tried to kill him, just for me. You made me run over a dog and gave me a year without all this. Not to mention all those times you've probably saved me on some hunt. No more invisible woman for you. You're mine now Gabriel. And I'm not ever going to let you go."

They stood like that. The Trickster and the moose. They probably looked like such an odd pair. But it didn't matter.

Somehow they ended up kissing again. Warm lips on lips. Like some high school students making out. _Yeah, maybe it wouldn't be so bad if this once thought hallucination didn't let me sleep tonight_Sam thought, smirking against Gabriel's mouth.

"Sam! Where the hell are you?!"

"Shit," Sam mumbled, pulling away from Gabriel ever so slightly, "thought he'd be out all night."

"Ready to explain little old me to your brother?" Gabriel turned around and his eyes were full of mischief that made Sam laugh slightly.

Gabriel may be an archangel but he was also a trickster.

That would be interesting.

"He's going to try and kill you."

"I know."

"In here Dean!" Sam called, without taking his eyes of the archangel in his arms.

It was a few seconds before Sam heard the door click open and he turned to Dean, hoping his brother wouldn't jump in and stab Gabriel before Sam could even explain what had just transpired between the angel and the hunter, "now Dean, don't freak out, but Gabriel's not dead and I may possibly be mated to him..."


End file.
